Food truck brings big, bold flavors to area

Chances are Vernon and Beauregard Parish citizens have seen a big green, yellow and black bus driving or parked somewhere. Or they have smelled it.

Chris Schoonovercschoonover@leesvilledailyleader.com

Jamaican Prestige Mobile Kitchen opened in March 2017. Owner, Thomas Anderson, wanted to bring a flavor of his home to the area.

"I lived in New York and moved here and saw there was no Jamaican food here," Anderson said. "I decided to buy a bus and turn it into a kitchen."

Anderson was born and spent most of his life in the northern coast of Jamaica in a town called Ocho Rios.

Anderson said if people like Cajun food, they will enjoy his food. Jamaican flavors are big and robust and it comes through with every heavily seasoned bite.

"Jamaican food is different than any other food," Anderson said. "It's made with more spices and more seasoning. It really gives the food taste."

Jamaican Prestige serves jerk chicken and pork and curry chicken and pork as its main dishes with sides of rice and peas, white rice, potato salad, steamed cabbage and corn-on-the-cob. On occasion, the bus serves curried goat and oxtails.

"People really like the way I do steamed cabbage," Anderson said. "We season in it to make spicy and nice. Sometimes, we do sandwiches too."

Anderson designed the bus himself, which was the hardest part of starting the business.

Beyond the bus, Anderson is having a hard time getting business with his food always on the move.

"The main part is getting more business because it's slow," Anderson said. "I had a sign and it got stolen. I need to make a bigger one."

The roots of Anderson’s love for cooking started when he was younger back in Jamaican.

"Cooking is part of me since I was a kid," Anderson said. "It's part of me. I love to cook.

"My passion is cooking."

To find the current location of Jamaican Prestige Mobile Kitchen, find it on Facebook.